When I saw it, I immediately liked it, you could say it was a kind of love at first sight. Don’t you think this little tart is bewitching? It’s like me, composed of pretty vegetal spirals with flashy colours.
So I won’t lie to you. This pie requires a little patience. The cutting of the vegetables is long, of course… Ideally, you will need a mandolin. It makes the task much easier. Otherwise, you can try with a good knife for the zucchinis, but I foresee a few more difficulties for the carrots. But, once again, nothing is impossible with a good dose of patience. I don’t mind cutting my vegetables; it’s even a moment I particularly appreciate. It’s like my little meditation time. I’m in the kitchen with my mandolin, and I slice, slice, slice, without thinking about anything [even if the kiddos are screaming, jumping, and even demolishing the house]. It’s a quiet moment that I sometimes [aka often] need.
I made it with the vegetables I had on hand, carrots and zucchini, but I’m already looking forward to testing it with eggplant, potatoes, etc. You can adapt it easily. Add a base of ricotta, parmesan and olives; it will be the “cement” for your vegetables and bring a well full of greediness. Then, we send it all to the oven. It’s beautiful, it’s good, it’s gourmet… what more could you ask for?
My little one, reluctant to taste, ended up biting into all of it. She gobbled up everything and confessed that she liked it [in a whisper, we shouldn’t admit too loudly that we like carrots otherwise, the mom might do it again ? ]. It’s always comforting to see my family and friends enjoying my little dishes, but when my mini-cocottes like it… it’s the best reward!
Summer Spiral Pie
Équipements
- Pie dish (23 cm)
- Mandolin (or a good knife)
Ingredients
For the pie dough
- 100 g Wholewheat flour
- 150 g of white flour
- 120 g of butter diced, cold
- 1 pinch of salt
- water cold
For vegetables
- 4 zucchini
- 4 carrots
- olive oil
- dried oregano to taste
- salt & pepper to taste
For the base
- 300 g ricotta cheese
- 100 g of liquid cream
- 5 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
- 10 olives kalamata
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
For the pie crust
- In a bowl, mix the flour and salt. Add the butter and a dash of water.
- knead the dough (by machine or by hand) until it is uniform and soft, adding water as needed.
- Reserve 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
- After the resting time, roll out the dough with a rolling pin and fill the pie pan. Refrigerate again for 30 minutes (or more).
- Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F). Prick the dough with a fork and bake for 15 minutes.
For vegetables
- Using a mandolin (or a good knife) slice the zucchini and carrots into long strips.
- Put them in a bowl and sprinkle with olive oil. Add salt, pepper and oregano. Mix well to coat all the vegetable strips.
For the base
- In a bowl, mash the ricotta with a fork. Add the cream and mix well.
- Dice the olives. Add them to the cream with parmesan.
- Add salt and pepper and mix to obtain a homogeneous cream. Set aside in the refrigerator until the dough is ready.
For the assembly
- Once the pastry is pre-baked, pour the cream into the pie shell and spread it evenly.
- Roll up zucchini and place it in the center of the pie. This will be your "heart". Arrange the zucchini strips in a spiral, alternating with the carrot strips, around the "heart" of the pie. Squeeze the strips together and cover the entire surface of the pie.
- Cook for about 45 minutes for vegetables that are still slightly crisp, or for 1 hour for more tender vegetables.
